Gravers
Gravers are a group of undead human slaves controlled by the Tall Man in the Phantasm franchise. They are not to be confused with Lurkers, another evil creations of Tall Man. The seemingly stronger type of Gravers is a Demon Trooper. Description These zombies were created from cadavers of recently dead people by the Tall Man through a secret process almost similar to that of Lurkers minus shrinking body sizes. They too kidnap or kill people and spirited off their dead bodies to a hoary and dark dimension where the Tall Man awaits and adds them to his legion of the living dead. Like Lurkers, these creatures bleed yellow fluid. Although, a rare few exceptions exist. Members Masked Gravers / Maskers These gravers make their debut in Phantasm II. They are called Maskers because they wear gas masks and dress similar to miners. Their task is to simply dig up bodies of dead people from graves and bring dug up corpses to the Tall Man so he can later create either Lurkers or more of Gravers. During his fight against Tall Man at Perigold crematorium hideout, Reggie encounters a Masker and engages a chain saw duel against it. After a slapstick fight Reggie kills the Masker with his chain saw and emerged as a victor. In Phantasm III Maskers were seen driving funerary hearses towards small town of Boulton, where is revealed to be deserted. They were spotted by Reggie, Timmy and Rocky who pursued them until late night. Once there Reggie and his company saw several funerary hearses lined up. Before they could figure out their next logical option, they were ambushed by 2 - 3 Maskers. They attempted to capture Reggie and his company but failed when Reggie drove off. Reggie, Timmy and Rocky were forced to camp outside. In Phantasm V there are army of Masked Gravers who serve Tall Man in his quest to conquer dimensions and eliminate Pearson brothers along with Reggie. In Reggie's frenetic warping between dimensions, Maskers appear in Nightmare world where Tall Man has succeeded in purging majority of humanity. Later a team of Masked Gravers appears to take on Reggie and small band of human survivors led by Mike Pearson. Mike simply obliterates them with an RPG-7. Also later in the movie A Graver is seen holding Jane (one of human band of resistance against Tall Man) hostage in Tall Man's dimension, only to kill her at Tall Man's instruction but was then killed by a human dwarf named Chunk who threw a knife to its head. When Reggie chooses to aid Mike Pearson to defeat Tall Man during the climax of the movie, the hospital which was a dream world where Reggie was residing as a patient, shattered and doctors, nurses and staffs are revealed to be Masked Gravers in disguises. Masked Gravers attempted to stop Reggie and Mike, only to be slaughtered en masse by the well-armed two men. More Maskers arrive, but they are mowed down by Reggie's car that is armed with dual gatling guns driven by Jodi Pearson just in a nick of time. Grandpa Reynolds This graver was first seen in his granddaughter Liz's vision having his mouth being sewn up in death. He is not dead yet, but he is going to be soon. Eventually he dies of his old age and his funeral was taken open casket, in Perigord mortuary Oregon. After funeral session was over, a high strung reverend named Meyer who was hosting the funeral, maddened with fear and alcohol withdrawal, desecrates the grandfather's body with a knife in a desperate attempt to thwart the reanimation. But he was interrupted by the sudden arrival of Mrs. Reynolds who fainted upon seeing her dead spouse being violated. Meyer fails to see that the corpse bleeds yellow fluid. That night, Meyers was very much afraid and was suffering a nervous breakdown when suddenly there was a bristling noise on his door. Hoping it is just a wind, he approached the door but did not open; instead he locked the door tighter. As he returned to have some drink more bristling noises are heard. Meyers goes back to the door and this time he opens the eye slot. Reynolds as the Graver was standing outside, looking directly at Meyer. Terrified, Meyers closes the slot on the door. Meyer was seen later hiding in the morgue where he was killed by a Sentinel Sphere. Reynolds was seen having returned to his former house to kidnap his former wife from her bedroom to have her become one of Lurkers. He is not seen again after that. He is portrayed by Rubin Kushner. Edna, Rufus and Henry These trio of thugs make their appearnce in Phantasm III. They are first seen ransacking the deserted town of Holtsville when Reggie, In search of Mike Pearson, stops by. While Edna distracts womanizing Reggie, Rufus and Henry mug Reggie from behind, take his gun, commandeer his car and lock him up in the trunk. The three drive off to the next town, intending to ransack it too and to kill Reggie there. But on the way, they first stop to rob a house that seems empty. It turns out that it wasn't and it had few graves of robbers who made failed attempt to rob the house before them. Interior of the house was loaded with lethal booby traps. The house is occupied by a child named Timmy. Upon discovering the house's occupant as a child, the trio drop their guard, intend to have some 'fun' with the boy after easily capturing him and negotiating all booby traps laid by the boy. Dropping their guards was a mistake: Edna is killed with an axe to the head, Rufus is killed by a bladed discus that slices his throat, and Henry is shot to death after falling into a pit... All killed by Timmy the boy. Timmy later frees Reggie from his car, and the two team up to defeat Tall Man. After burying the trio in a shallow grave and spending a night in the house, the next morning both partners realize that bodies of Edna, Rufus and Henry are missing; presumably they were dug up and carried away by Lurkers. After rescuing Mike, meeting with Rocky, Jody-Sphere, and surviving more of Tall Man's demonic body parts, Reggie's group drives at night towards Tall Man's hideout. But along the way, the group encounters Edna, Rufus and Henry who are no longer humans but Gravers. After deadly car chase Edna is shot and thrown out of her car to be crushed underneath the vehicle, Rufus and Henry, distracted, loses control of their car, overturning it and blowing it up. But Reggie's car is also damaged in the tire and Reggie's group is forced to travel on foot. But Edna, Rufus and Henry did not die. After arriving at Tall Man's mortuary hideout, Reggie's group gets separated and are ambushed by Graver trio who take advantage of their newfound physical attributes as Gravers: Reggie is ambushed by Edna, Timmy was caught and taken by Henry to Tall Man who has Mike, Rocky barely manages to escape from Rufus. As Reggie struggles against Edna, Rocky finds them both and the two women engage in a close combat, with Rocky comes out as a victor and Edna is thrown off the balcony. But Edna is still not finished. Timmy, with Jody-Sphere's help, escapes from his captivity only to run into Rufus and Henry. As the two male Gravers are about to kill Timmy, Timmy shoves Jody-Sphere into Rufus' forehead, which proceeds to twist and rip off Rufus' head. Henry turns to face Reggie, who blows his head off with a four-barreled shotgun. After interrupting Tall Man's operation on Mike, Rocky impales the Tall Man with a spear dipped in liquid nitrogen, and they lock him in the refrigerator room. However, a golden sentinel sphere breaks out of his head and attacks them. Fleeing from the sphere, Rocky and Timmy are ambushed by tenacious Graver Edna, but Edna stumbles right onto the Tall-Man sphere's range of kill; Tall Man sphere goes clean through Edna's entire face, creating a big hole and finally killing her. Edna is portrayed by Cindy Ambuehl, Rufus is portrayed by Brooks Gardner and Henry is portrayed by John Davis Chandler. Demon State Trooper This Graver appears in Phantasm IV during Reggie trying to reach Mike who ran away from Reggie at the near end of Phantasm III. While driving as fast as he could to reach Mike, Reggie was stopped by a Californian state police for speeding. The state police, after stopping Reggie, went to his car to check his license registration etc. Time has passed and he still has not come back. Annoyed, Reggie went to the police car to protest why the cop is taking so long; only to discover that the real state police had been flayed, locked in the trunk and barely alive. A demon trooper had taken his place. Reggie and the Demon Trooper gets locked in a brawl tossing, strangling, multiple shootings to an undead body, yellow blood splashing onto a mouth, stabbing an undead body with a truncheon etc. Although proving to be a tough nut to crack, Reggie finally manages to incinerate the Graver by igniting the police car with his flare into the car's fuel hole with a lighter. Shaken, Reggie curtly replies: "Some cops can be real assholes." He is portrayed by a stuntman Bob Ivy. Demon Nurse This Graver disguised as a nurse makes her appearance in Phantasm III. After Mike suffers a car accident at the end of Phantasm II and spends two years comatose in the hospital, a nurse enters into the room Mike was registered. As he wakes from his coma after having a not-so-pleasant encounter with his late brother Jody and Tall Man, he wakes out of coma just in time to witness a nurse attempting to do him harm: Mike is attacked by the nurse who intends to extract his brain with a device for making him into a sentinel sphere. But Mike quickly subdues her by injecting her IVF liquid, which is fatal to Gravers, after a struggle. Reggie arrives as she dies, her scalp bursting open to reveal a sentinel sphere which takes off through the window after it approaches Mike. She is portrayed by Irene Roseen. Timmy's Dad thumb|right|200px|Timmy's Dad as a Graver killing his former wife. He was seen in Phantasm III and has a minor screen time. During his funeral his grieving son Timmy stays long after the funeral is over and until night. Then he and his mother witness Tall Man stealing the coffin that contains Timmy's father. Timmy's mom approaches Tall Man to question him but he simply showed the body of her husband, which reveals that he has become a Graver. Timmy's Dad, now an undead Graver, grabs his former wife by the throat and shuts the coffin with her. Timmy, shocked, secretly follows and sneaks into Tall Man's limo, where he discovers that his father is undead and his mother is killed. Before he too suffers the same fate as his mother, Timmy escapes from Tall Man's limo. Timmy's dad is not seen again after that. He is portrayed by Beau Lotterman. Jennifer This graver makes her appearance in Phantasm IV. She is first seen in a rest area trying to contact someone with a broken phone. She then returns to her car to look at her road map; it is clear that she is lost. Reggie just looks at her and moves on. After his nerve-wrecking confrontation against a Demon State Trooper, Reggie continues his search of Mike. On his way, he encounters Jennifer again and tries to woo her while both are driving. Distracted, she fails to see a desert tortoise crawling before her and loses control of her car that overturns. Reggie saves her before her car is blown up. After lamenting her loss of money and car, she thanks Reggie and both introduce one another. Reggie agrees to take Jennifer to a nearby town. The town they arrive was deserted, Reggie claims to be tired and both are forced to spend a night in an abandoned motel. Reggie tells her the story of The Tall Man but Jennifer, of course, does not believe him. Both bid each other good night and go to sleep. After waking up from a nightmare regarding Mike, Reggie wakes up to find Jennifer still sleeping. Then, he sees her chest squirming unnaturally with squelching sound. Fascinated, Reggie unbuttons her shirt to see a pair of sentinel spheres jammed into where her breasts should've been. Jennifer then wakes up grinning and taunts Reggie, making it obvious that she is a Graver. Sentinel spheres then pop out of her breasts to kill Reggie but Reggie destroys the two spheres with a sledgehammer and with a vibration of a tuning fork. Even so, the second sphere manages to severely wound Reggie's right hand. After treating himself, Reggie tries to leave, but Graver Jennifer grabs him by the leg, saying that she is not done yet. Reggie then says, "Sorry, baby. But yes, we are." and smashes Jennifer's head with a sledgehammer. She is portrayed by Heidi Marnhout. Lady in Lavender First making her appearance not as a Graver, but as a female alter-ego form of Tall Man in Phantasm, she lures men to Morningside Grave, then kills them while having sex. When Reggie stumbles onto her during his fight against Tall Man and his Lurker minions, she takes advantage of Reggie's womanizing habit, and nearly succeeds in killing him. However, Reggie manages to survive. However, in Phantasm V: Ravager Lady in Lavender returns as an independent being, as an advanced Graver with an ability to hide her true face and looking more human. During Reggie's constant dimension warping he stumbles into a mortuary, The Lady sneaks up behind him. Reggie, armed and high strung, turns around to see the woman who almost took his life 39 years ago once again stands before him (albeit looking a bit older). Reaching out her arm, she approaches to Reggie, apparently once more attempting to seduce and kill him. Just when she was about to kiss Reggie, he remembered being nearly killed by her in Phantasm, and the Lady's humanly appearance was blown, revealing her zombie-like true face. Reggie then proceeds to kill her with a shot to her head. When she died, she bled yellow blood. Lady in Lavender is portrayed by Kathy Lester. She reprised her role in Phantasm V almost 4 decades later. 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